Highlander May Tournament Prep part 2

As stated in the previous post, I played Right Place at the Wrong Time with one other opponent; Josh who I had not seen before at club but was a pleasure to play against.  He brought his Tau, of which finished models such as his Stormsurge are fantastically painted.  Here’s another batrep!  Once again, please excuse fuzzy pics due to camera troubles.

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Bozeman – Azure Flames Space Marines (Salamanders)

• Combined Arms Detachment
  • Leonidas, Captain of the 1st Company (counts as Vulkan He’stan)
  • Ironclad Dreadnought, Chainfist, replace Storm Bolter with Heavy Flamer, Ironclad Launchers
    • Drop Pod
  • Terminator Assault Squad x5, 5x Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield
    • Land Raider Redeemer, Extra Armour, Multi-Melta
  • Tactical Squad x10, Veteran Sergeant, Power Fist, Bolter-Melta, Meltagun, Multi-Melta
    • Drop Pod
  • Scout Squad x5
    • Land Speeder Storm, Multi-Melta
  • Land Speeder Squadron x3, 3x Multi-Melta
  • Stormtalon Gunship, Skyhammer Missile Launcher

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Josh – Tau

• Combined Arms Detachment
  • Commander with no weapons and all of the wargear that gives his unit unspeakable buffs. (Note: Josh’s commander is in pieces, so his Commander this game is proxied with Forge World’s Moratarion)
  • XV88 Broadside Battlesuit x3, High Yield Missiles, Smart Missile system, Velocity Tracker
  • Riptide, Velocity Tracker
  • Fire Warrior Strike Squad x5
    • Devilfish, Seeker Missile
  • Kroot Carnivores x10
  • Stormsurge, Velocity Tracker, 4x some kind of missile that is ridiculously strength D
• Drone Net VX1-0
  • Drones x4, 4x Marker Lights
  • Drones x4, 4x Marker Lights
  • Drones x4, 4x Marker Lights
  • Drones x4, 4x Marker Lights

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Mission – Right Place at the Wrong Time

Players alternate setting up 6 numbered objectives.  When an objective is first claimed, roll a D6.  On a 1, the objective explodes, causing D6 S5 AP4 hits to the squad that claimed it, and then the objective is removed from the game permanently!  On a 2-3, the objective is removed.  On a 4+, the objective is “real” and is rolled for as a Mysterious Objective, re-rolling all results of 1.

If 3 objectives are removed, the remaining 3 are “real” and if 3 are identified as “real” all others are removed (assume they are deactivated).  Objectives are worth 3 points at the end of the game.  First Blood, Linebreaker, and Slay the Warlord for one point each.

For this game with Josh, we played with a short board edge deployment.

Setup

This is the first time I have played a tournament scenario with this club in which I went first, even counting last year.

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Azure Flames – Turn 1

Ironclad drops behind the Devilfish and glances it with the Heavy Flamer, but the Meltagun is jink-saved.  Land Raider with Leonidas and his posse move Flat Out while the Land Speeders chill by an objective.

Ironclad shakes up the backfield, but a lucky jink save spares the Devilfish from melta doom!

The Land Raider risks extra movement in lieu of using Smoke Launchers.  The Land Speeders cower by the objective.

Tau – Turn 1

Marker Lights turn the Land Raider into an Xmas tree, and then four Strength D missiles wreck it.  Leonidas and the Terminators take fire from the Kroot, but are unscathed.  Battlesuits unleash fury on the Ironclad, doing 2 glances.  Turn not pictured.

Azure Flames – Turn 2

Leonidas splits off from the Terminators, burns 4 Kroot, and charges the rest, breaking them and wiping them out.  Land Speeders emerge from cover to fire at the Stormsurge, but lucky Invulnerable saves negate their shots.  The Terminators charge the Stormsurge, doing 6 wounds and narrowly avoiding stomp attacks!  Ironclad charges the Suits, but one glance from overwatch fire wrecks it!

Leonidas takes the Kroot out as they flee.

Undeterred by the loss of their Land Raider, the Terminators charge the Stormsurge!  It’s stomp attack doesn’t catch them off guard.

One more missile makes the Ironclad give up.

Tau – Turn 2

The Riptide uses marker lights to turn the Land Speeders into crushed beer cans.  The Devilfish advances on the central objective.  Terminators finish off the Stormsurge.

The Land Speeders taste Tau firepower, as the Fire Warriors go for the gold!

Hey guys, how’s it going?

Azure Flames – Turn 3

Terminators lose two models to overwatch fire, but survivors kill the suits and the commander!  Stormtalon arrives and puts one more glance on the Devilfish.  Tactical squad arrives and combat-squads to hold the objective and menace the Devilfish.

Commander and suits are now roughly the consistency of medium-spicy salsa.

Tactical squad is finally on the job.

Tau – Turn 3

Riptide lays into the Terminator survivors, but good invulnerable saves protect them.  Fire Warriors and Devilfish kill two Tactical Marines, breaking the combat squad!

The Tactical squad has to fall back before the Tau onslaught.

Riptide tries to put the hurt on the Terminators, but they’re just too hard!

Azure Flames – Turn 4

Melta firepower from the Tactical squad explodes the Devilfish, and the Stormtalon kills four of the Fire Warriors, breaking them.  The Terminators take the objective by the lake.

The Tau are driven back.

Objective secured.

Tau – Turn 5

Terminators survive another round of fire.  Game ceded.

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Josh’s Tau list relies a LOT on Marker lights.  They turn a moderately-sized CAD into a can’t miss scalpel, able to kill any target with devastating precision.  Worse, if you take the time to kill Marker Light Drones, you’re not killing things that can kill YOU.  The Stormsurge is a great super heavy, but it can’t hold up to a kickass melee unit like Thunder Hammer Terminators.

Next: Modeling projects, painting, special rules, fluff and MORE!  Stay tuned!